Green Street Hooligans (2005)
"Hooligans" (original title)

A wrongfully expelled Harvard undergrad moves to London, where he is introduced to the violent underworld of football hooliganism.

Director:

Lexi Alexander

Writers:

Lexi Alexander (story), Dougie Brimson (story),

Stars:

Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Claire Forlani

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elijah Wood	...	Matt Buckner
Charlie Hunnam	...	Pete Dunham
Claire Forlani	...	Shannon Dunham
Marc Warren	...	Steve Dunham
Leo Gregory	...	Bovver
Geoff Bell	...	Tommy Hatcher
Kieran Bew	...	Ike
Henry Goodman	...	Carl Buckner
Christopher Hehir	...	Keith
Terence Jay	...	Jeremy Van Holden
Ross McCall	...	Dave
Francis Pope	...	Ned
Rafe Spall	...	Swill
David Alexander	...	Nigel
Oliver Allison	...	Ben Dunham

Storyline

Unjustly expelled from Harvard when a stash of cocaine is found in his possession, Matt moves to London to live with his sister and her husband Steve. He is quickly introduced to Steve's chirpy, cock-sure younger brother Pete. Initially, Pete is reluctant to get acquainted with Matt and allow him to tread around the capital city with him because he may be seen by others as an 'outsider', but after a heavy drinking session with him and his mates he quickly changes his opinion of him. On the way back from a football match, Matt is viciously accosted by a gang of Birmingham City thugs, until Pete and his friends step in and save him. It is from here that Matt learns the truth about Pete and his friends- they are football hooligans, operating the GSE (Green Street Elite) 'firm.' Initially afraid of the violence, Matt soon ends up becoming as desensitized to it as his new found friends - but as events roll on, suspicion, shocking revelations and unsettled scores combine to a devastating ...

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Plot Keywords:

west ham | fight | hooliganism | hooligan | violence | 

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Taglines:

Just think of someone you hate.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brutal violence, pervasive language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

DeeGee Entertainment [us] Metropolitan Films [fr]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

9 September 2005 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Yank

Filming Locations:

Bank Underground Station, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£446,369 (UK) (9 September 2005)

Gross:

$344,095 (USA) (18 November 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Baker Street, Oddlot Entertainment, Yank Film Finance

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Terence Jay, who plays Jermey Van Holden, also performs the song 'oneblood' that plays during the final fight scene.

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Goofs

When Steve is trying to con Pete into taking Matt to the match, the money he is holding goes from folded in half to thirds and back to half again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pete Dunham: Fuck me. If I knew we was going to a bar mitzvah, I would have brought me fuckin' skull cap. Mate, Tottenham's due north. Are you lost? Or just fucking stupid?

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Connections

Followed by Green Street Hooligans 2 (2009)

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Soundtracks

"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"
Written by Jaan Kenbrovin and John W. Kellette (as John Kellette)

User Reviews

Excellent film about football hooligans

I saw this at a mystery preview screening where I didn't know what film was going to be shown. Sometimes these previews turn out to be real turkeys but thankfully that wasn't the case this time.

Without revealing too much of the story, Elijah Wood's character gets kicked out of Harvard for a drug offence he didn't commit. He flies to London to visit his sister and quickly gets caught up in a small group of West Ham United supporting hooligans called the Green Street Elite.

The film does slightly glamorise the violence, but ends on a moralising note. An engaging storyline, good cinematography and decent cast performances make this a very enjoyable film.

Two minor demerits: 1) Charlie Hunnam's "cor blimey guv'nor" accent owes more to Dick van Dyke than London's East End.

2) To establish that Wood's character has landed in London, we hear this frankly ridiculous message over the airport's PA system - "this is a security announcement at London Heathrow airport". Presumably this was inserted for the hard of thinking.

To all the Americans who have commented that they'd avoid British football matches as a result of this film, I point out that this film is fiction - not a documentary. Hooligans are an absolutely tiny minority of the crowd at a football match and even then they invariably only fight among themselves rather than randomly attacking innocent members of the public (something the film accurately portrayed).

All in all, an excellent film, worth going to see.